Sebi chief believes LTCG tax will have some impact on Indian markets

Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi said that volatility in Indian markets may continue for some time due to global reasons like the healthy US job markets numbers

Volatility in the Indian markets may continue for some time due to global reasons, but there are no issues of concern for investors in terms of safety and security of the Indian marketplace, Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi said on Saturday.    

In the wake of concerns raised in some quarters about the re-introduction of long-term capital gains tax (LTCG), as proposed in the Budget, Tyagi said Sebi has not received any representation from investors so far against this.

He, however, said it will be wrong to say long-term capital gains tax will have no impact at all on Indian markets. But, any such impact would be small and the global factors pose bigger risks, Tyagi added.

When asked about the timing of imposing the LTCG, Tyagi said it was an opportune time as markets were booming.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on February 1, proposed to tax LTCG on equities exceeding Rs 100,000 (Rs 1 lakh) at 10 per cent, which is expected to bring in a revenue of Rs 200 billion (Rs 20,000 crore).

Speaking about the markets, Tyagi said that volatility in Indian markets may continue for some time due to global reasons like the healthy US job markets numbers.

Indian stock markets have been falling in the last few trading sessions, which experts attributed to global worries. Currently, BSE's Sensex has been hovering at 34,000 level.

The benchmark indices fell by over one per cent on Friday to close at a one-month low level. While the Sensex had managed to gain 330 points on Thursday, it had lost more than 2,200 points in the preceding seven trading sessions amid negative domestic and global cues.

Experts believe that the latest US jobs data spooked global markets, prompted worries about inflation rising at a faster pace. This has led to a possibility that the Federal Reserve - the US central bank - could raise rates at a faster pace than expected this year.